New book: Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster
Book: Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster,Truth Dig, Jun 12, 2015 By Louise Rubacky “Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster” A book by David Lochbaum, Edwin Lyman, Susan Q. Stranahan and the Union of Concerned Scientists
In “Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster,” a team of scientists and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist recount what happens when a catastrophe strikes that no one imagines. No one with the clout to prevent it, that is. It’s a tale of entwined worlds that must cooperate intelligently in order to protect the public. The tensions and cross-purposes among them, however, lead to indecision, inaction and increased calamity. In crisis, these worlds—the nuclear energy industry, two powerful governments, and international regulatory commissions—are about as effective as a machine lubed with super glue.
Early and often comes the warning: HUBRIS AHEAD. Words and phrases like prevailing wisdom, low risk, practically unthinkable, unlikely, government assurances, assumptions, confidence, remote possibility and a situation we had never imaginedappear throughout; they indicate attitudes about potential dangers, and point to why the earthquake and tsunami had such dire effects on Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and Japan.
This chronicle, another in the continuing tragedy of the human gamble against nature, is mostly peopled by players who could be said to represent knowledge, fear, power and money. In standing, the first of these comes last. Corporate captains, regulators and leaders charged with public safety cover up or sidestep facts that, if acknowledged and addressed, could imperil their coffers or careers. As in the U.S., there’s a symbiotic and dangerous relationship between government and industry in Japan. The route from the public to the private sector is known here as the revolving door; there, the delicate name for that greasy highway is “amakudari,” translated as “descent from heaven.”…………..
“Fukushima” makes a fine reference volume for understanding nuclear power production and its still-critical dangers. It’s also a mosaic of determined reconstruction, and serves as a play-by-play guide to What Not to Believe during an industrial accident. As the prescient journalist I.F. Stone warned for decades about governments: They all lie. And so it goes for most large corporations, whose PR shields give “spinning”—formerly known as lying—a shiny sophistication. Eight days into the crisis, Chuck Casto, the NRC rep in Japan working on no sleep and with little cooperation, said, “I’m just trying to figure out who the power player is over here.” This too is a crux of the story, and others about high-stakes arenas. ….http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/fukushima_the_story_of_a_nuclear_disaster_20150612
Nuclear fusion: US Congress ponders on this as wasteful boondoggle
Nuclear war on the Hill Fusion research splits the House and Senate. Why? Because, er… science. Politico.com , 12 June 15 By BOER DENG On a patch of land in Saint-Paul-les-Durance, in the South of France, cranes recently installed two massive electrical fixtures, industrial gray and 87 tons each — the first components of a plant that will house the world’s biggest scientific project.
If it succeeds, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, will turn hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, into virtually limitless clean energy. But success is far from assured, getting results will take years, and construction is behind schedule.
Now Congress has split on whether to continue supporting the enterprise at all. ……..Ambitious science projects frequently crash into funding rocks, and nuclear fusion is a particularly vexing problem for politicians. More than four decades have been spent trying to turn the reaction that fuels stars and H-bombs into a viable source of energy. Is it worth shelling out ever more on a very risky bet with a big potentialpayoff — a step towards securing the world’s, not to mention the country’s, energy future? Or is it yet another boondoggle science project recklessly spending taxpayer money?….
like many “big science” projects, it has a record of overrunning its cost estimates. ……
Plenty of physicists are skeptical of ITER, … “I was on the site and it’s appalling how little work has been done,” says Michael Lubell of the American Physical Society. Some researchers have derided the Department of Energy’s most recent fusion strategy, which includes ITER, or have written to Congress to plead for pulling out of the experiment. The technology the reactor will use is too costly to be viable, they say, and the money would be better put toward research on alternative designs…..http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/06/nuclear-war-on-the-hill-000083
Headlines – today on Renewable Energy
Governor Signs Bill Setting Hawaii’s Renewable Energy Goal At 100%
MP to generate 20000MW renewable energy by 2020
Times of India12 June 15
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BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh will generate 20,000MW renewable energy by year 2020 and renewable energy projects in the state will be
Transfer of radiation experts to Alabama makes Californiaans more vulnerable , in nuclear disaster
“Dangerous Decision” Could Leave Californians Vulnerable After Nuclear Disaster. 4 Southern California, 12 June 15 By Joel Grover and Matthew Glasser
An EPA plan to consolidate resources would move West Coast nuclear response team to Alabama. Housed in a nondescript office park in Las Vegas, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has an elite team of radiation experts trained to respond to a nuclear disaster. One of their most important tools is a Mobile Environmental Radiation Lab known as the “MERL.”
A set of three large vehicles, the MERL can be in Southern California in a matter of hours after a terrorist attack or nuclear accident. And it allows the radiation response team to quickly identify and track dangerous radiation spreading across the region.
“The laboratory would be used to make emergency response decisions as to where people are okay to go, and where they can’t go,” explains Richard Flotard, a retired EPA radiation chemist.
But the NBC4 I-Team has obtained an EPA internal memo explaining that the agency is moving the mobile lab from Las Vegas to Alabama, leaving the state far removed from what California’s Office of Emergency Services calls a “first response” tool in the case of nuclear attack or accident.
Homeland Security officials have long worried that the port of LA, or downtown LA, could be a prime target for terrorists to detonate a nuclear device.
The EPA says it plans to move the lab to Montgomery, Alabama, home of another EPA radiation facility, this summer because of “tight resources.” That means the lab would have to drive across 7 states, taking 4-6 days for it to get to California in case of a nuclear event.”Leaving the western U.S. without this critical resource will increase response time to our state, jeopardizing our combined ability to adequately protect the public” during a nuclear disaster, said Jennifer Chappelle of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services in a letter to the EPA.
Dr. Vern Hodge, a radiation scientist at the University of Nevada Las Vegas who has been studying radiation for decades, told NBC4 that “it’s a criminal act if you remove this rapid response unit from the west coast.”……..http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Dangerous-Decision-Could-Leave-Californians-Vulnerable-After-Nuclear-Disaster-307086911.html
Investigation into Cyberspying of Iran Nuclear Talks
Swiss, Austrian Officials Probe Iran Nuclear Talks Cyberspying VOA News, Reuters June 11, 2015 GENEVA/VIENNA — Swiss authorities have searched a house in Geneva and seized computer material in connection with a possible cyberattack on nuclear negotiations between Iran and major powers in the city, Switzerland’s attorney-general said on Thursday.
A computer virus was used to hack into locations including three luxury hotels that have hosted negotiations between Iran and six world powers, the Russian computer security company Kaspersky Lab said on Wednesday.
“On 12 May 2015, a house search took place in Geneva and IT hardware as well as software was seized. The aim of the aforementioned house search was to seize respective information as well as the malware; it was of particular interest to investigate whether the malware infected the respective IT systems,” the Swiss attorney-general’s office in Berne said in a statement.
Criminal proceedings have been opened against unknown persons “on suspicion of political espionage”, it added without elaborating. A spokesman declined to give any further information on the investigation.
Meanwhile, Austrian authorities are investigating reported cyberattacks on venues linked to international talks on Iran’s nuclear program, the government said on Thursday……..
srael, Iran’s arch-enemy and a strong critic of the big powers’ diplomacy with Tehran, on Thursday dismissed as baseless reports that it may have had a connection to the computer virus.
Both Kaspersky and U.S. security company Symantec said the virus shared some programming with previously discovered espionage software called Duqu, which security experts believe to have been developed by Israelis.
Israel, widely believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear power, has denounced the negotiations with Iran, saying it doubts any agreement arising from the talks will sufficiently restrain the Islamic Republic’s atomic program. http://www.voanews.com/content/austria-investigating-possible-cyberattack-on-iran-nuclear-talks/2816943.html
Government advisory panel recommends shutdown of South Korea’s oldest nuclear reactor
Korea panel backs closure of oldest nuclear reactor
* Application deadline to extend lifespan is June 18, 2015
* KHNP says no decision has yet been made
* Panel hopes closure to build decommissioning technology (Adds more quote and details)
By Meeyoung Cho SEOUL, June 12 (Reuters) – South Korea is expected to shut down its oldest nuclear reactor, the Kori No. 1 unit on the country’s southeastern tip, after a government-led energy advisory panel recommended it be permanently closed.The panel’s decision meant operator Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co Ltd (KHNP) was unlikely to seek a second extension for the nearly 40-year-old plant, whose operating permit expires in June 2017, government and industry sources said…….http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/12/nuclear-southkorea-idUSL3N0YY21O20150612
Legal action against Canada’s nuclear waste plan for Lake Huron area
Burial of nuclear waste near Lake Huron subject of legal action The Canadian Press Jun 12, 2015 A review panel decision in favour of a plan to bury dangerous nuclear waste near Lake Huron was illegal and unreasonable, a citizen’s group argues in a new Federal Court application.
In asking the court to set aside the decision, the group says the panel that approved the Ontario Power Generation proposal failed to consider Canada’s international obligations, was biased, and violated the Canadian environmental rules.
“The (panel) erred in failing to require OPG to fully study accidents and malfunctions that would result in adverse effects to human health and safety and to the environment,” the application by Save our Saugeen Shores states.
“(It) erred in failing to require OPG to adequately evaluate the potential for reasonably foreseeable or unplanned events, singly or in combination, to produce significant short- and long-term adverse effects on the Great Lakes Basin ecosystem, home to 40 million people and containing 20 per cent of the world’s fresh water.”
Approval of the billion-dollar deep geological repository near Kincardine, Ont., along with any conditions currently rests with federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq, who has delayed making a decision until December — after the fall election………..
More than 150 communities — many in the United States — have passed resolutions against any storage of nuclear waste near the Great Lakes.
The federal court application argues Ontario Power Generation failed to take into account Canada and Ontario’s obligations to be “good neighbours” to the U.S. and individual states.
“No Canadian representative, whether formally or informally, notified the United States of the proposal,” the application states………Jill Taylor, president of Save Our Saugeen Shores, said the federal government cannot expect industry and the public to respect environmental laws and processes when it has failed to do so. The project is simply too risky, she said, noting last year’s failure at an American underground nuclear waste site in New Mexico.
“To risk contaminating (Great Lakes) water with nuclear waste that will remain highly radioactive for 100,000 years is unthinkable,” Taylor said. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/burial-of-nuclear-waste-near-lake-huron-subject-of-legal-action-1.3111403
European Commission will rule in October on possible illegality of State aid for Hungary’s nuclear expansion
llegal state aid for Hungary’s nuclear expansion? – EU ruling expected in Oct – BBC
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June 12, 2015, BBC has looked into a 12.5 billion euro deal between Budapest and Moscow under which Russia would build two new 1,200-megawatt reactors at the Paks nuclear power plant. It presented the views and arguments of those objecting to the project. It said a European Commission decision on whether or not illegal state aid is involved is expected in October……http://www.portfolio.hu/en/economy/illegal_state_aid_for_hungarys_nuclear_expansion_eu_ruling_expected_in_oct_bbc.29732.html
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Grid powered 50% by renewable energy without the use of batteries.
Systems flexible enough to accommodate the ups and downs of solar and wind production can be made by adjusting the power at millions of homes and businesses on a minute-by-minute or even second-by-second basis. This approach requires no new hardware, some control software and a bit of consumer engagement.
Massive balancing act..……This is an enormous challenge to grid operators in this region. Massive fluctuations in power require equally massive storage devices that can charge when the wind is blowing, and discharge during periods of calm.
Now, the balance of supply and demand for power is primarily done by generating more power rather than storage.
Grid operators draw on what is called the balancing reserves obtained from fossil fuel generators or hydro plants, when available. These power plants ramp up and down their output in response to a signal from a grid balancing authority. This is just one of many ancillary services required to maintain a reliable grid.
Many states are now scrambling to find new sources of ancillary services, and the federal government is also searching for incentives: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) orders 745, 755 and 784 are recent responses by a government agency to create financial incentives for responsive resources to balance the grid.
Are batteries the solution?
Storage is everywhere, but we have to think beyond electricity…………..
Through local intelligence – in the form of a chip on each device or a home computer for many devices – the collection of one million pools in Florida can be harnessed as massive batteries. Through one-way communication, each pool will receive a regulation signal from the grid operator. The pool will change state from on to off based on its own requirements, such as recent cleaning hours, along with the needs of the grid. Just as in the office building, each consumer will be assured of desired service.
Pools are, of course, just one example of a hungry but flexible load.
On-off loads such as water pumps, refrigerators or water heaters require a special kind of intelligence so that they can accurately erase the variability created from renewable generation. Randomization is key to success: To avoid synchronization (we don’t want every pool to switch off at once), the local intelligence includes a specially designed “coin-flip”; each load turns on or off with some probability that depends on its own environment as well as the state of the grid.
It is possible to obtain highly reliable ancillary service to the grid, while maintaining strict bounds on the quality of service delivered by each load. With a smart thermostat, for example, indoor temperature will not deviate by more than one degree if this constraint is desired. Refrigerators will remain cool and reliable, and pools will be free of algae………
Today, about 750,000 homeowners in Florida have signed contracts with utility Florida Power & Light, allowing them to shut down pool pumps and water heaters in case of emergencies. How can we expand on these contracts to engage millions of homeowners and commercial building operators to supply the virtual storage needed? Recent FERC rules that offer payments for ancillary services for balancing the grid are a valuable first step in providing incentives.
It is possible that little incentive is required since we are not subjecting consumers to any loss of comfort: it is the pool or fridge that provides flexibility, and not the homeowner.
A sustainable energy future is possible and inexpensive with a bit of intelligence and flexibility from our appliances. https://theconversation.com/could-one-million-smart-pool-pumps-store-renewable-energy-better-than-giant-batteries-41937
Australia’s Foreign Minister makes a claim about ISIS collecting materials for a “dirty bomb”
ISIS may have collected radioactive materials for nuclear ‘dirty’ bomb, says Australian Foreign Minister, First Post, Jun 11, 2015 Melbourne: The Islamic State is believed to have collected radioactive material from hospitals and research establishments in cities it has captured in Iraq and Syria which it could use to build a large “dirty” bomb, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has warned.
ISIS had declared its ambition to develop weapons of mass destruction in the most recent edition of its propaganda magazine Dabiq, stating that there is an “infinitely” greater chance of the cash-rich group smuggling its first nuclear weapon from Pakistan to attack the US within a year.
Bishop told The Australian that NATO was deeply concerned about the theft of radioactive material.
“The insurgents did not just clear out the cash from local banks,” she was quoted as saying.
In a speech in Perth last week, Bishop warned that the Islamic State may be developing poison-gas weapons.
Julie later told the daily that her speech was based on reports from the Defence Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade………http://www.firstpost.com/world/isis-may-have-collected-radioactive-materials-for-nuclear-dirty-bomb-says-australian-foreign-minister-2291388.html
June 11 Renewable Energy News
Startup’s new idea – free EV charging for the masses.
San Francisco startup Volta believes charging an electric car in public should be free, at least for the driver.
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Startup-s-new-idea-Free-EV-charging-for-the-6317331.php &http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/-1762574135413030477
R** Record boost in new solar power continues massive industry growth.UK leads European solar energy expansion to help renewables overtake output of nuclear power as industry leaders hail ‘tipping point’ for the technology
A record amount of solar power was added to the world’s grids in 2014, pushing total cumulative capacity to 100 times the level it was in 2000.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/09/record-boost-in-new-solar-power-continues-massive-industry-growth &http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/-6200967183475772551
Europe’s largest green wall
Saturday 6 June 2015 10:17AM
A UK power company has created the largest living wall in Europe – the massive vertical garden wraps the external walls of the National Grid headquarters creating more than 11,000 sq metres of green space. That’s a lot of happy birds and bees. While more and more architects some people dead against them – we find out why.http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/blueprintforliving/segment/6417820
UK’s cuts to defence security endanger Scotland’s Faslane nuclear submarine base
Nuclear weapons’ security threatened by spending cuts – defense police Rt.com June 11, 2015 Further cuts to specialist Ministry of Defence (MoD) police numbers could leave Scotland’s Faslane nuclear submarine base vulnerable to attack, according to the Chair of the Defence Police Federation.
UK ministers are planning deep spending cuts to defense. The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) guarding the base could be affected, despite the force already losing a third of its officers since 2010.
Defence Police Federation Chairman Eamon Keating is expected to use a keynote speech at the federation’s annual conference to urge ministers to reconsider cuts…….
In May, Able Seaman William McNeilly, a weapons engineer, claimed a number of security lapses and technical faults with the Trident missiles carrier expose the British nuclear deterrent to potential terrorist attacks that “would kill our people and destroy our land.”
Possible attackers have “the perfect opportunity to send nuclear warheads crashing down on the UK,” he claimed.
McNeilly also outlined the ease with which potential terrorist can infiltrate the base……..http://rt.com/uk/266617-faslane-security-defence-cuts/
VIDEO: America: all 16 U.S. Intelligence Agencies have begun to prepare for World War III.
CIA Insider: “Forget Iran, Iraq, Ukraine, and Syria this is where WWIII will start” http://pro.moneymappress.com/MMRBSSH39PPM3/LMMRR651/?h=true Concerned American,12 June 15
This is a quickly developing story.
Should the rise of conflicts across the Middle East and Ukraine serve as a warning sign that something much more dangerous is approaching?
According to Jim Rickards, the CIA’s Asymmetric Warfare Advisor, the answer is yes.
In a startling interview he reveals that all 16 U.S. Intelligence Agencies have begun to prepare for World War III.
Making matters worse, his colleagues believe it could begin within the next 6 months.
However, the ground zero location for this global conflict is what makes his interview a must-see for every American.
Take a few moments to watch it below [on site link] and decide for yourself.
The fraught politics of Canada’s nuclear waste burial plan: decision now delayed
Delay in nuclear waste decision sign burial plan politically fraught: critics Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press , June 10, 2015 TORONTO — A delay in deciding whether to approve plans to bury hazardous nuclear waste near Lake Huron until after the federal election is a sign of just how politically fraught the project is, opponents say.
In a statement this week, U.S. congressman Dan Kildee said he would use the additional time to keep pressing for an alternative to the proposed site.
“This delay until after Canada’s next election clearly demonstrates that this project is controversial, both in Canada and the U.S.,” Kildee said. “I hope that Canada considers a different location for a site.”……..
more than 150 communities, many in the U.S., have passed resolutions opposing the plan. They include cities such as Chicago and Toronto.
“Surely in the vast land mass that comprises Canada, there must be a better place to permanently store nuclear waste than on the shores of Lake Huron,” Kildee said.
Illinois Senator Mark Kirk, co-chairman of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, recently urged President Barack Obama to press Ottawa to delay approval of the project and let the independent International Joint Commission that oversees the lakes look at the proposal. http://london.ctvnews.ca/delay-in-nuclear-waste-decision-sign-burial-plan-politically-fraught-critics-1.2415916
Influence of Israel in railroading the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Israel in Action: Spoiling the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty By Binoy Kampmark Global Research, June 11, 2015 More should have been made about it last month, but the security patrons and aficionados heaved a sigh of relief more than despair when it concluded. Effectively, efforts to obtain a consensus document at the end of the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference held between April 27 and May 22 were railroaded. The UK delegation suggested that there was only one key sticking point: that of the establishment of a WMD-free zone in the Middle East.
As a review in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists noted, “It came down to the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada supporting Israel’s position on a conference to pursue a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.”[1] The 2010 final document had demanded that a conference be convened on the subject of the zone prior to the end of 2012, to be hosted in Finland with the facilitator Jaakko Laajava. So much for that.
Such reviews, which come every five years, tend to be ceremonial gestures of box ticking and smug denial. They focus, ostensibly, on assessing the progress made towards halting the proliferation of nuclear weapons; provide states complying with the provisions of the treaty access to non-weaponised nuclear technology; and, rather dreamily, the efforts of nuclear weapons disarmament on the part of the Permanent Five (P5) states.
Those fascinated by the dynamics of the nuclear club see the NPT as a successful document, one that has 191 signatories and has stalled the creation of more nuclear states. Once the atomic genie was unleased in August 1945 with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the spectre of total nuclearisation became all too real. But getting countries on board the regime of non-proliferation has entailed a rather empty promise as outlined by Article VI of the Treaty. Not developing nuclear weapons on the part of 186 states was bought by the assurance that the nuclear club would dismantle their arsenals.
The non-nuclear states have over the years found the exchange unsatisfactory. The P5 continue going about wistfully refusing to engage in serious dismantling. The old logic of refusal prevails, and with just under 16,000 nuclear weapons available at the push of a trigger, this balance of terror is something that established nuclear states would not do without. If one has them, the rest have to.
All that seemed to transpire at this conference was a desperate attempt to keep an ill patient afoot. It reached an absurd point where a skeletal, poor document of 184 paragraphs was backed by a majority of delegates for no other reason than there was no other alternative. Austria’s representative, speaking for over 20 signatories of the Austrian Pledge on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, noted continuing legal deficiencies in the quest for disarmament. But even that creation, with severely diluted language about disarmament, was rejected by the US, Britain and Canada.
Israel’s role as a spoiler was vital. Being itself outside the NPT framework, it has manipulated it with a degree of determined ruthlessness. Its official stance, which neither affirms or denies its nuclear stockpile, suggests how singular approaches will be tolerated………
Delegates familiar with their history of the NPT noted that its indefinite extension was only bought because of the 1995 resolution on a Middle East WMD Free Zone. Egypt’s delegation was particularly vocal on that score, while the Tunisian delegate insisted that the resolution continued to hold force.
For all that, the singular stance of Israel, one that its allies took note of, doomed an already deficient review document to oblivion. The NPT will simply going on being a shadow of itself, degenerating, as the South African delegate observed, “into minority rule – as in apartheid-era South Africa – where the will of the few reigned supreme over the majority.”
Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com http://www.globalresearch.ca/israel-in-action-spoiling-the-nuclear-non-proliferation-treaty/5455013
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